Hoosiers escape VCU, move into Sweet 16

Mar 18, 2012 - 3:07 AM
Portland, OR (Sports Network) - Will Sheehey hit a jumper with 12.7 seconds to
play and Indiana punched its ticket to the Sweet 16 with a 63-61 win over VCU
in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament.

Cody Zeller had 16 points and 13 rebounds while Christian Watford also had 16
points and added five boards for the fourth-seeded Hoosiers (27-8), who are
looking for their first NCAA championship since 1987.

"This game was everything that we anticipated and even more," said Indiana
head coach Tom Crean. "We knew VCU was really good on film, but they were even
better in person. Their aggressiveness, their athleticism, the toughness that
they played with, we knew we were going to have to match that and then some,
and our guys did."

Indiana will next play Kentucky, which thumped Iowa State on Saturday, in the
fourth round on Friday in Atlanta.

Bradford Burgess had 15 points and seven boards while Rob Brandenberg added 13
points for the 12th-seeded Rams (29-7), who had knocked off Wichita State in
the second round on Thursday.

"Proud of our guys. Really battled, played hard," said VCU head coach Shaka
Smart. "I thought we did a much better job defensively in the second half.
But then again, so did Indiana. You've got to give Indiana a ton of credit for
the way they battled."

The Hoosiers were trailing by five points when Zeller put in two free throws
with 1:31 to go.

Burgess was then fouled with 59.3 left, but he missed both of his free throws
and Victor Oladipo was fouled on a layup that went in and sank the freebie to
tie the game with 46.5 to play.

VCU set up for a three at the other end but Troy Daniels missed with Oladipo
grabbing the rebound and heading the other way.

He had the ball knocked out by Darius Theus, but it went to the left where
Sheehey grabbed the loose ball and drained the jumper with 12.7 seconds left.

The Rams had their chance following the timeout, but Brandenberg's three-
pointer bounced off the rim right before time expired and the Hoosiers
celebrated.

Indiana held a 13-8 lead early when Jordan Hulls hit a three-pointer four
minutes in, but VCU answered with a 13-2 run capped on three free throws from
Burgess for a 21-15 lead.

The Hoosiers countered with the next seven points to take the lead back and
the game stayed close over the next several minutes, but the Rams scored 11
straight points to hold a 42-33 lead with under two minutes to play in the
half.

They didn't score another point in the half, though, as Watford hit
consecutive three-pointers and followed that with two free throws to get
Indiana within a point at the break.

After Watford hit a three-pointer for Indiana four minutes into the second
half to tie the game at 48, VCU scored the next nine points.

Rob Brandenberg hit a free throw and a Derek Elston turnover was turned into a
three-pointer from Treveon Graham. Elston again coughed up the ball and
Brandenberg followed with a three.

Following misses at either end, Brandenberg missed a layup, but Juvonte Reddic
came down with the offensive board and put the ball in for a 57-48 lead with
12 1/2 minutes to play.

The offenses went dormant over the next several minutes as Indiana got a free
throw from Zeller and layups from Tom Pritchard and Remy Abell to make it a
four-point game with 10 1/2 minutes left. The next points didn't come until
four minutes later when Brandenburg put in a layup for a six-point cushion.

Two minutes after Zeller hit a free throw and followed that with a jumper with
under three minutes to play, but Theus immediately answered with a jumper with
2 1/2 minutes left.

Game Notes

Indiana won the only previous encounter between these programs...Indiana shot
52.2 percent in the game, including 6-of-13 from long range...VCU made just
40.4 percent of its shots...Sheehey's winning bucket was his only basket of
the second half as he finished the game with eight points...Indiana dominated
the glass, 36-23.